Always Be There
by MusicLoverGirl9078
Summary: ["What happened to you? What happened to the nice Jade I used to know and hang out with?""I became this kind of Jade, and the nice old Jade is now long gone"]AU, one-shot, couple:Rade, R&R, slight Hurt/Comfort. Dedicated to KatieKitKat :)


**Hey hey! ^u^**

**This is my first Victorious story, my first AU story...well, It's a bit AU and my first story that is being dedicated. This is dedicated to one of my best Fanfiction friends, KatieKitKat because I know that she ships Rade tons. Actually, she's the only Rade shipper I know, but it's cool, though I found it a bit weird at first, they actually don't look that bad together •u•**

**WARNING: Evil Tori, Beck, Cat and Andre when you reach the _18 years old_ part, and evil Jade in the _15 years old_ part. **

**Note: Robbie's parents are OCs.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious.**

* * *

_9 years old..._

"Are you sure that I have to go to school today?" Robbie asked his parents as he pushed his glasses up. His parents let out a soft laugh, and his mom turned to him while his dad looked for a parking area.

"We're sure, Robbie, and stop fussing. You'll be fine" his mom reassured him; sending him a soft smile.

"Okay, Mom"

"And...we are here" his dad announced while pulling up and finally stopping the car. Robbie gulped nervously and got his backpack. His parents got out of the car, and his mom let him out of the car since the space was a bit tight, and he might hit the other car by accident.

Robbie looked at how big his new school was and asked his parents once more if they were sure that he had to go to school today.

"Yes, Rob. We are positive that you have to go to school today. Just calm down, you'll be fine, okay kiddo?" his Dad said, smiling and ruffling his hair.

"Okay Dad" he said, nervousness and fear present in his tone, but he kept his head high and forced himself to be confident as they walked through the double doors of the school. Robbie let out a soft gasp in both shock and awe at the school. Graffiti-ed walls and personalized lockers, none were alike, like snowflakes. Then a man with tan skin and brown hair came; he looked like he was in his early 30s. He spotted the small family at the entrance and went over to them, a small smile present on his face.

"Hi, you must be new here. I'm Lane Alexander, the school's guidance counselor, and you are...?" Lane said, directing his attention to Robbie then his parents.

"I'm Jonathan Shapiro, this is my wife, Lauren Shapiro, and this is our son and probably your student, Robbie Shapiro" Robbie's Dad said while giving Robbie a little push. The young boy looked up a little, so that he can meet the man's eyes.

"Hi, Mr. Alexander" Robbie said softly, Lane chuckled a bit.

"Please, call me Lane. I want my students to feel comfortable around me, like a friend, and judging by your facial expression and how sweaty you look, you must be nervous" he said; Robbie nodded in agreement to his last statement.

"Well, don't be because I'm positive that you'll make a new friend today" he said, Robbie smiled and nodded. Lane then directed his attention to his parents.

"Why don't I show you two where to get his schedule and locker number" Lane said.

"Okay" Robbie's mom said, then she turned to Robbie "you don't mind staying here while we get those things, do you, Robbie?"

"Um...no, Mom. I think I'll be fine" he said, still nervous, but wanting to take a risk.

"Okay, we'll be right back" his mom said and went off with the two men. Robbie looked around and saw just how energetic the school was. Some students were doing gymnastics, some were dancing, some were on their laptops, probably editing pictures or music. One girl caught his eye, she had brown hair that had a headband neatly placed, she was wearing a simple blue blouse with black pants. He wasn't really able to see the color of her eyes since she was picking petals off of flowers, so he went and sat beside her which was on the floor, leaned on the lockers.

"Hi" he said softly, she looked up, then he saw her eyes, blue-green. She didn't show any expression, just a poker face.

"Hey" she said, her voice sounding hard, but she still didn't show any expression.

"I'm Robbie...um Shapiro, Robbie Shapiro" he held out his hand for her to shake, but she just took a glance at it, then looked back at him.

"Jade West" she said, her tone was cold. She took two bunches of flowers in her hand, the ones that don't have their petals anymore and the ones that haven't been 'harmed' yet, and placed them in her bag. Then she turned back to him.

"Why does it seem like you hate flowers?" he asked suddenly, eyebrows raised, and suspicion and curiosity written all over his face.

"Because I do hate flowers. They're just so bright and look so..._girly. _Ugh! If I die, I'll never have flowers in my funeral! Well maybe black roses since black is a nice, and roses aren't so bad.." she mumbled the last bit to herself, but he heard it.

"I don't like flowers that much too, you know? They're just girly and frilly, and I'm allergic to most flowers" he said, she let out a snicker.

"Really?" she asked, amused. A small smile forming on her face, and then they began a full on conversation. Then she asked him if he wanted to join her for lunch since she's usually alone; he accepted. Ever since that day, they always went to lunch together.

And that was the start of their beautiful friendship.

* * *

_12 years old..._

For the past three years, their friendship has been smooth sailing, there were rarely any problems, and everyday, they would be together for lunch so neither was alone. Robbie made a new friend named Sinjin, who, as Jade had said, is the school weirdo. He sometimes joins them for lunch, but Jade doesn't seem bothered...well, she is bothered most of the time, but she can control it.

"Hey Jade, should I go ahead or...?" Robbie trailed off looking at her expecting her answer.

"Um...yeah, about that...I'm going to join Tori and Beck for lunch today, Rob"she explained, placing her notebook in her bag, Robbie was shocked about her answer, then brought his voice down to a whisper.

"You're going with the Populars?!" Robbie whispered/yelled; she nodded. The Populars are, of course take it from the name, the most popular students in school. They were a small group that consisted of Tori Vega, Beck Oliver, Cat Valentine and Andre Harris.

"Jade! Hurry up and finish your chat with the nerd already!" Andre yelled from outside the classroom, some snickers were heard, but Jade pushed it away.

"Okay!" she yelled back, then turned back to Robbie.

"I have to go, and maybe I can join you for lunch tomorrow, kay?" she asked, getting her water bottle from under her desk and slinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Okay" he said, sighing; she smiled and walked to the door.

"Later!" she yelled to him as she joined Tori and the others.

-_Lunch-_

"Jade, who was the guy with the Afro?" Tori asked, then took a bite of her salad. Jade drunk a bit water, then answered:

"You mean Robbie? Oh! He's my best friend" that caused Tori, Beck and Andre to choke on their food and Cat to spit take.

"You mean, you're friends with the nerd who eats lunch with that weirdo?" Cat asked, after calming down.

"Yeah" Jade said, then raised an eyebrow and asked "Why do you guys seem so...I don't know! Shocked, disgusted...?"

"Here's why, do you like hanging with us?" Beck asked her, then she nodded.

"And we're your friends, right?" he asked, she nodded.

"So stop hanging out with the nerd. I mean, you can hang out with him sometimes, but not most of the time" Andre finished.

"Why can't he just join us for lunch?" she asked, then Cat looked at her with an 'Are-you-kidding-me' expression.

"Because we're popular, he's not, so we can't get caught hanging out with him" Cat explained.

"But I can still hang out with him, sometimes, right?" Jade asked which caused the four to groan in frustration and annoyance.

"Yes! Just not all the time because we're gonna be in high school next school year, and high school's a tough life, so you either hang out with the Populars and stay safe, or go be a 'normie' aka normal person and suffer" Cat explained, once again. Jade nodded.

"Okay"

"But when we're already in High School, it's a no-no. If you're seen with him, you get picked on and embarrassed, but if you're with us, you _don't_ get picked on, respect and TONS of friends. Choose, go with him and have High School as torture or go with us and High School will still be torture, just not as terrible because you'll be living it in style with us and people will bow down to you as if you're a princess, well...not _literally_ bowing down, but they'll respect you like royalty" Tori explained further what Cat had said.

"So which path are you going on, hmm?" Beck asked her, eyebrow raised. Jade thought for a while, Robbie's her best friend, but she likes hanging out with them and doesn't wanna get picked on even if she and Robbie will probably get through it, she doesn't want it to happen, and she is having a hard time making friends. She thought for a few minutes before making her decision.

"I'll go with the path where I get lots of friends which is with you guys" she said, smiling. Her other friends smiled, but they had a different plan in store if she continues to be slightly goodie-goodie.

* * *

_15 years old..._

"Hey, Jade. Are you joining us for lunch or no?" Robbie asked, smiling as he approached her, she was leaning against some lockers that were near hers. She was with the Populars again and was laughing at something with them, but they stopped when they saw him.

"I'll handle this" she whispered, then winked. She went over to Robbie, and smiled with fake happiness and sweetness.

"Oh, sorry, Rob. Having lunch with my friends again" she said, faking a pout which quickly turned to a an evil smirk "Oh wait! I'm NOT SORRY!" she yelled, then laughed along with Tori, Beck, Cat and Andre. A crowd was forming around them.

"What happened to you? What happened to the nice Jade I used to know and hang out with?" he asked in disbelief and utter confusion; she smirked at him.

"I became this kind of Jade, and the nice old Jade is now long gone" she said, Robbie shook his head and his heart ached a bit, did he just lost his best friend?

"I thought we were best friends, what happened to that?" he asked, wanting to know if they were still best friends or not.

"Keyword, were. I'm a popular now, Shapiro. I can't be seen hanging around with a loser like you and Van Cleef anymore, you know? Now, go and shoo before you poison me with all your weirdness" she said sharply, her tone was cold and hard.

"Fine" Robbie said, his voice just as hard as Jade's, then he continued "but just remember that if you need something, I _won't be there _for you".

It was a lie, he'll always be there for her, and it was just a thought until it was spoken. The words stung Jade, but she didn't dare show it, the old Jade was shy and like a turtle in a shell; she wanted to be the new Jade that was confident, stronger and has no idea what fear and sorrow is.

* * *

_18 years old..._

_*Senior Prom*_

"Jade?" Robbie called as he roamed through the dark halls. It was Senior Prom, and Jade just suddenly ran out in tears while her so called 'friends' laughed at her. It felt like he had been looking for her for an hour when it only had been 13 minutes. Suddenly, he heard the soft sound of sobbing coming from the janitor's closet. He pressed his ear against the door and heard her voice saying 'Why did I believe them?' over and over again. He opened the door, and saw her leaning against the wall with her hands covering her face.

"Jade?" Robbie said, going inside. Jade looked up and wiped her tears with the back of her right hand and crossed her arms.

"What are you doing here, Shapiro?" she asked, her tone was hard and sharp, but there was also a hint of shakiness in her voice. Robbie went closer and handed her his hankie which she took while muttering a soft 'thanks'; she wiped her tears with it and looked at him with a look of annoyance, but her eyes showed a different mood.

Gratefulness.

"I'll ask you once more, what in the freaking world are you doing here?" she growled. She wanted -wait, scratch that, she _needed_ him. Yes, she was mean to him, but she had to keep her reputation up which meant no hanging out with Robbie.

"I saw what happened and followed you out because I wanted to see if you were okay, guess not, and you seem more ticked off now that I'm here, concerned about it you're okay or not. Guess I'll just go back to the dance then.." Robbie said, muttering the last part, but she still heard him clearly. He turned around and was about to go when she grabbed his hand, stopping him.

"Please...don't leave. I'm sorry, okay? I didn't want to get picked on in high school, and they seemed nice to me, and I knew that they were popular, so I thought 'Hey, I hang out with them, I get popular, not get picked on and have lots of friends. Triple win!', but I guess I was wrong" she explained; she loosen her grip on his wrist.

"I guess, you want to leave now because of what you said, and-"

"Shut up" Robbie cut her off, his back facing her, so she didn't see his face, which had a small smile playing.

"What?" she asked softly in shock, her voice cracked a bit as tears once welled up in her eyes again. He turned around; she finally saw the small smile playing.

"I said shut up because I forgive you already" he said. Jade smiled a bit and hugged him, but she was still sobbing a bit because she then remembered the dance and what had happened.

"So...will you tell me what happened back there because I'm pretty sure that gossip is gonna spread after _that_ event" he said, she laughed a bit, but it quickly washed away. She then pulled away from the hug and went back inside the janitor's closet, that gave him the signal to go inside with her. He shut the door behind him, and the two of them sat on the floor.

"I was talking to Tori about how great life is since I chose the decision to go with them in High School instead of you, then she said that it won't be good now, then I asked her what did she mean, and she poured her punch all over my dress, and Beck came over and kissed Tori then when they pulled apart, he said that he never liked me. They never liked me. They just wanted me to get really popular, so that they can embarrass me severely. So my first ever boyfriend cheated on me and my friends back stabbed me all in one night, then they laughed at me and I ran out crying" she explained, a stray tear running down her cheek, but she brushed it away in a harsh manner and aggressive manner.

"WHAT?! I am so gonna kill them later!" Robbie yelled, cracking his knuckles.

"One, don't because if you end up getting expelled, I'm not joining you there, Rob" Jade said in a playful manner, laughing a bit before she continued.

"Two, can I ask you a question now?" she asked, looking at him seriously.

"Sure, ask me anything" he responded with a smile.

"Why did you come here? I mean, I wanted you to come here, but I thought you told me 3 years ago that if I needed anything, you won't be there for me, but you're here, and you know.." she trailed off; Robbie smiled and took her hand in his.

"I had my fingers crossed, and I'll always be there for you because you're my best friend. Just because you weren't my friend 3 years ago, doesn't I stopped being your friend 3 years ago" he said, with a smile; she smiled back at him, and they hugged.

"Plus, even if you would attempt to kill them, they'd just end up with a scratch each" she continued from where she started before, smiling.

"Fine, you do the murder, and I'll either make up a story for their death or look for a river/lake/field where we can dump their bodies" he joked back, both of them laughing now.

"You've got yourself a deal"

* * *

**So...how'd I do? ^u^ Was it good or do I still need some ****improvement? Well...umm...I have nothing else to say, so that's all! ^u^**

**See you! **

**-Nathalie**


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